I had my mind go back today to John 1. I have preached from this passage 1:1-14 so many times. It is in my sermon book available at Written In Flesh: A Series of Expositional Sermons in John’s Gospel: Volume 1 – Chapters 1-3 (To Believe and Have Life) – Kindle edition by Goforth Jr, James L. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

This isn’t intended to be a commercial post, but just wanted you to know where youc an get the rest of this idea. I was thinking about it today and reading again and I wanted to just include a little bit of it, sort of an outline of it. I wanted to just give you an encouragement today

John 1:1-4 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. in him was life and that life was the light of men (CSB)

John wrote his gospel toward the end of the first century, long after all the other 11 who walked with Jesus had died. He wrote it from Ephesus where he had been pastor of what had become a large metropolitan church. John wrote 20:31 that you may believe … and have life.

Heraclitus had been a Greek Philosopher, also from Ephesus about 600 years before John 500BC. and he described the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. He called that divine reason – the logos = word. Heraclitus believed, 500 years before Jesus walked the earth, that there was something behind everything.

And John writes perhaps the most beautiful words in literature these words we just read. John was saying, “Heraclitus is right, and I know WHO he is, I walked with him, talked with him, saw him die, saw him alive, I KNOW HIM!” and he writes these words.

Go back and read them again – go ahead, I’ll wait.

John says the WORD isn’t a concept, he is a person. And he uses that same word LOGOS to show us Jesus.

He says

1.He is an Ancient Word

When the beginning had a beginning, Jesus was already there. Whatever you are facing, whatever the challenges, Jesus was before it. Your generational problem, your current circumstance, success, failure, Jesus was there BEFORE

And he WAS the Word. He has an infinite past. Matthew, Mark, Luke, all put Jesus rightfully in his place in History. But John starts by placing him outside history

in the beginning was the word

Whatever you face, take it back to the beginning when there was nothing but God, and know that before everything, before you even knew him, Jesus loved you.

And Jesus is

2.An Associated Word

was WITH God

They say you can be defined by whom you associate with. John Associated Jesus with GOD. That word means in the company of

John says anyone who has seen me has seen God – John 14:9

Hebrews 1 says he is the radiance of God’s glory … the exact representation of his being

And so that means he is also associated with the Holy Spirit. In the beginning was God … let US make man in OUR own image

Jesus was fully equal to and associated with the Trinity, the fullness of God.

But then the amazing becomes true John 1:14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us

Jesus became fully associated with US, with People.

When Solomon built his Temple he thought in 1 Kings 8:27 will God really dwell on earth? The heavens … cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built.

And yet that word, ancient and associated with God, became associated with us!

Why? so that our FIRST word doesn’t have to be the LAST Word.

Words seem to define us – winner, loser, big, small, accepted, rejected, sinner, saint, but because Jesus is the First Word and He is the FINAL Word, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End; it doesn’t matter what your current word is, it doesn’t have to define you if you surrender to Jesus.

He is an

3.An Almighty Word

So Fear Him. Psalm 34:8-9 taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints for those who fear him lack nothing.

Almighty Creator – Fear Him

Favor Him. that means to show him love, and to show him preference.

Who do you love and give preference to? Jesus is the one that deserves to be over all of that.

Follow Him – it’s not enough to think Jesus is nice, or a good teacher, he is either LORD, or Lunatic, or he was a Liar. That’s what C.S.Lewis famously said. If he is NOT Lord, then don’t follow him, but if he IS – he deserves ALL our lives fully given and devoted to him. Lewis said you can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him for a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

Oh my how the WORD can change our Word

From Abuse to Adore, Bankrupt to Bless, Cancer to Cured, Divorce to Anniversary Date, Empty to Exuberant, Famine to Feast, Grief to Given Comfort, Hate to Heart of Love, Irreconcilable to intercession. He can change us from Justice to Justification, Kicked out to Kicking up your heals, Lay-off to Labor in a New beginning. Oh can you hear me? From Materialist to Minister of God’s Gifts, Naysayers to Number one Fan, Ostracized to Open door. Oh I like the Word of God, Jesus changes us from Picked last to Picked FIRST by the Lord of Creation. He changes our word from Unqualified to Qualified, Ridicule to Resounding praise, Suffering to Strength, Termination to Threshold of opportunity. Oh when Word is our Word we can go from Uneducated to Understanding, Victim to Victor. When X-rays are fearful, we can have EXpectation of God’s move. If Yielding to God is fearful, the word of Jesus is A Yield of Great harvest, and Zero hope becomes a Zephyr of God’s Blessing blowing …

Oh Somebody … are you with me today

Whatever the words are playing in your heart and life today, Jesus is the Word BEFORE and will be the WORD after, and He IS the Word here with us today, willing to change our world.

Will you turn to him today. Say “Jesus, you are my word, you are my hope, you are my life, my trust is in you all day long.”